Big Spenders Attract Flings, But Not Marriage

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Like proud peacocks, men looking for love may flaunt flashy
accessories like sports cars. The posturing may very well get you
a date, researchers find, but she'll likely not consider you
marriage material.

In the study, participants found men who purchased luxury
products more
desirable for a fling than the same man who chose a
non-luxury item. The catch? They weren't more likely to prefer
that same guy for a marriage partner, as they inferred the showy
spending meant he was interested in uncommitted
sex.

"People may feel that owning flashy things makes them more
attractive as a relationship partner, but in truth, many men
might be sending women the wrong message," said study researcher
Daniel Beal, assistant professor of psychology at Rice
University.

These are the results of several studies with nearly 1,000
college students.

For instance, in two of the studies when guys were primed to
think about romance — in one case by looking at photos of
attractive gals thought to be part of a dating service — they
were more likely to spend hypothetical money on
flashy products if they were interested in flings than if
they preferred invested relationships.

"Obviously, women also spend plenty of money on expensive
things," said Jill Sundie, assistant professor of marketing at
the University of Texas-San Antonio. "But the anticipation of
romance doesn't trigger flashy spending as it does with some
men."

Sundie is lead author of their paper published in the April issue
of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

These findings fit with past research published in 2008 in the
journal Evolutionary Psychology. In
that study, men who lived beyond their means and were less
likely to save reported having
more sexual partners in the past five years and desired more
future partners than other guys in the study. And as was found in
the new study, this one showed financial consumption wasn't
significantly related to past or future mates.

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